ssiibssstsj 22 stouffville suntribune thursday nov 25 2004 stouffville suntribune sports w sweet revenge for spartans on volleyball court in yraa final sdss rallies to defeat huron heights in regional title tilt by mike hayakawa staffwriter for a while during fridays york region athletic association senior boys volley ball championship final it looked as if it would be a short night for the stouffville district secondary school spartans the spartans trailed 20 26- 24 2514 and were on the verge of elimination in the b est- s of- five match against the huron heights secondary school warriors last years yraa champions the spartans however man aged to turn the night into a marathon on the sacred heart catholic high school hard wood at the same time it turned out to be a memorable one for the spartans as they rallied to win the next three games capped off by a 159 verdict in the decisive set to claim this years title as well they atoned fof a loss to the warriors in last years yraa final turn things around although his club was on the verge of being eliminated in quick fashion veteran spartans head coach jim fletcher remained optimistic his charges would turn things around we had come back in the first game to make it close and during that game a player on huron heights got hurt he twisted his ankle and there was a 15minute delay and we let down and huron heights went crazy fletcher recalled in the second game it the warriors momentum carried over and we couldnt do anything right but i told the kids that we were playing well and it will happen they huron heights had their fling and we said lets do it now the spartans did just as fletcher ordered as they won the next two games 2519 and 2520 to set the stage for the finale teaching this year at thornlea secondary school in thornhill but asked by the spartans players to come back to coach them one more year fletcher credited his clubs dra matic comeback to several fac tors with all of his starters back from last years yraa silver- medal winning club fletcher staff photosjoerd witteveen stouffville district secondary school spartans forward scott marks white uniform tries to tip the puck past a beleaguered keswick high school cougars goalkeeper david wood in last thursdays yraa reg ular season senior boys hockey opening game at stouffville arena the spartans prevailed 72 said they possessed plenty of experience and character i had plenty of confidence in our guys they were in great condition and they knew what they had to do he said 1 had plenty of confidence in our guys they were in great condition and they knew what they had to do fletcher also pointed out that with his club playing close to 150 sets this year including tournament and league match es the lessons learned from those outings paid off having all of those games hardened us and we practised wednesday nights late from 7 pm to 930 pm and i think that was to our advantage since the final went long we had good game experience diversified attack an asset from a technical viewpoint fletcher thought his clubs abil ity to create a diversified attack was critical we can hit from any place on the floor we can use com bos back quicks and tandems and our setter is good enough to use the whole net he said fletcher was quick to praise the play of a number of players including setter and team cap tain alan mcgrath middle players justin reesor and jon chaput power hitters gavin howe and his brother justin dan locksley and curtis reesor assisting fletcher this year on the bench is dave healey next up for the spartans is a trip this weekend to the ontario federation of school athletic associations aa playdowns in clinton the spartans are seeded sec ond in a pool that includes francis libermann high school scarborough lester b pearson secondary school burlington hamilton district catholic high school and kincardine district secondary school making his 14th trip to an ofsaa volleyball playdown fletcher feels confident his experienced charges can vie for a medal if they play the way theyre capable of they can win ofsaa id be disappointed though if we didnt come home with a medal he said hockey spartans win first two league games the spartans senior boys hockey team last years yraa champions opened its regular season with two victories playing in newmarket monday the spartans received a twogoal effort from kyle miller to edge the huron heights secondary school warriors 21 in last thursdays season opener at the stouffville arena the spartans routed keswick high school 72 alex bruno scored twice while miller brandon jupp scott moody jon wonch and zach popper each added sin gles the spartans next league game is dec 1 when they host cardinal carter catholic high school last years yraa finalist at 3 pm at stouffville arena senior girls caged at yraa playoffs the spartans senior girls basketball team was eliminated in the first round of fridays yraa playoffs at st augustine catholic high school in markham coming out on the short end of a 4931 decision to the host titans pearl coleshill was high scor er for the spartans with 15 points the titans proceeded to win the title with a 4738 win over brother andre catholic high school markham ofsaa qualifier the spartans however had at least one more game to play as they were slated to be in oshawa yesterday to face gl roberts collegiate oshawa in an ontario federation of school athletic associations aa qualifier the winner will earn a berth in next weekends ofsaa aa tourney in belleville for more information on high school sports in york region log on to wwwyraacom juniors hopes to tame terriers spirit defeats newmarket 73 then loses to north york 53 the stouffville spirit meets a team in transition tonight in the couchiching terriers the orilliaarea squad 61602 is tied for last place in the north conference of the provincial jr a hockey league see standings on page 23 the terriers fired head coach ray flaherty earlier this month and replaced him with former nhl draft pick bill maguire and last week 20yearold goalie mike thompson arguably the teams mvp asked for a trade the terriers purchased another goalie marc stuart from the wexford raiders to fill the anticipated void game time is 730 at the stouffville arena the thirdplace spirit 13921 meanwhile won two of three games last week highlighted by a 73 win over the firstplace newmarket hurricanes in front of 500 people saturday in stouffville twenty hours later they lost 53 to the north york rangers in toronto against newmarket ty raine had two goals and two assists including a highlight reel setup of patrick lees goal brock ouellet also scored twice rob groom and sean gray had the other goals at north york the spirit trailed the rangers 30 after one period before losing 53 an emptynet goal late sealed the win for the rangers who are tied for first place in the south conference the spirit outshot the rangers 29- 24 groom jake van allen and ouellet scored for the spirit the spirit plays at aurora tomor row night spirited notes goaltender troy ciernia was sold to the central texas marshals of the north american hockey league last week the goalie he replaced jeff fischer was obtained by the markham waxers ty raine thirdyear spirit forward scored twice and set up two goals in 73 win over newmarket hurricanes in stouffville